Page 6

As he walked out in her direction, he noticed a movement and stilled, just in time to witness one of the miracles of life.

He watched as the doe gave birth. He hadn’t even realized she was pregnant, and it was certainly later in the season than he would have liked for animals in this situation.

He squatted and waited until she was done.

Seeing how stiffly she moved, he was aware that she was still much better than yesterday, and that brought a smile to his face.

He moved a little bit closer, talking to her, just checking that everything was okay.

The fawn managed to get to its feet in a fairly decent amount of time, and that was what counted right now.

Timber went back into the barn, poured out a little bit of grain, and brought it over for the new mom.

He put it down on the ground just a few feet away from her and stepped back.

She was already protective about her baby but seemed to be tolerating his presence rather well.

She stared at him, but she could smell the grain.

He knew she could because of the way her nose twitched.

He backed up a little farther, and she hesitantly took another step closer to the grain, then very quickly nibbled away at it.

With her gaze almost constantly on him, he just smiled and let her eat, happy to have given her a little bit of something to help boost her energy and to help her heal at a time when she needed it the most. Not only did she need it because of the injury, but giving birth would have zapped her of the nutrients she needed to recover too.

His heart was full of so much joy as he watched her.

He took several photos with his phone. He would send them to Kat shortly.

When he returned to his cabin and put on coffee, his sadness and restlessness was curbed just enough for him to enjoy the peace.

It was hard to even imagine how full his heart felt.

While his coffee brewed, he sent the photos to Kat. He got a phone call not long afterward.

“Sending me pictures of deer now?” she asked, with a teasing tone. “I’m glad to see you found another hobby.”

“Photography has always been a bit of a hobby,” he shared, “but, in this case, she’s special.” And he quickly explained.

“They just left her with the arrow in her?” she cried out in outrage.

“Yeah, but they’re also very typical dumbasses. They couldn’t figure out how to use the bow and arrow properly, and then, once they’d shot her, they didn’t know how to find her, much less help her.”

“They should be taken out and shot,” Kat muttered into the phone.

He smiled at that because he was definitely on the same page, but sadly most of the world didn’t see it their way. Regardless, anything and anyone who hurt an animal without any thought to the consequences deserved exactly what was coming to them, as far as Timber was concerned.

He spoke with her for another few minutes and then disconnected.

She had invited him to come by and visit sometime soon, which she always did.

He just smiled and didn’t say anything. Soon meant a different thing in his world than it did in hers.

But he understood that he was always welcome at her place, and that in itself was something he hadn’t felt in a very long time.

Working for the two of them had been a godsend.

Right now, it just seemed as if time alone was something he needed.

He needed space to grow and just a chance to breathe, but still understood it would be a temporary condition for him.

With a cup of coffee in his hand, he stepped out onto the front porch just in time to watch the doe settle back down with the fawn at her side, both of them resting after the ordeal they had just been through.

They were hidden enough in the bushes that they should be safe, even if somebody drove up unexpectedly.

However, if somebody was looking for her, she wasn’t safe enough.

Timber hoped she had the wiles to pull away and to get herself and her baby to safety before something happened.

Tugging on his work belt, Timber got back to roofing the deck.

He’d already stripped off part of the roof on the house, so he needed to get the plywood finished there first. Then he would get the tar paper up.

At least that was the plan. Hours later he took a break, wincing at his sore muscles, yet smiling because he was further along than he’d expected.

He kept working steadily until he heard a sound off in the distance.

He tilted his head to focus on the noise.

When he heard the dogs barking followed by the definite sound of a vehicle coming, he frowned, stepped back, and took a look around to see just who was approaching.

He was still wary enough that he didn’t trust anybody.

Right now he couldn’t tell if this would be friend or foe.

Honestly, in this place, at least at this point in time, he looked at almost all of them as foe.

Badger would always be welcome, of course, as was Kat, Badger’s partner, and quite a few guys Timber had worked with, while constructing houses.

Otherwise, Timber had a few civilian and ex-military buddies here and there, but, for the most part, he was left alone, just the way he liked it.

When the vehicle arrived, Timber recognized Andy’s truck. Timber walked over to see the old man struggling to get out of his vehicle. Timber smiled at him. “Hey.”

“Hey,” Andy replied. “Did they come back?”

“Not that I’ve seen yet.”

“I’m really hoping they don’t,” Andy muttered. Timber didn’t say anything, just nodded. Andy faced him and stated, “I really don’t want them shot.”

“Keep them off my place then,” he snapped.

Andy nodded at that. “You’re right. That’s exactly what should happen… but the one kid? He’s a bit of a hard case.”

Timber remained silent, just waiting for whatever Andy had to say.

“And I know you’ll say they’ll only get what’s coming to them, and you’re right,” Andy conceded, with a raised hand, “but just because they’re stupid doesn’t mean we should be knocking them off.”

“Then he better stay away from me,” Timber declared, his tone hard.

“How’s the doe?”

“She’s doing better,” he noted, “and she delivered a fawn this morning.”

He looked at him in shock, then growled. “They shot a pregnant doe?”

At that, Timber nodded and added, “Exactly my point.”

“Shit.” Andy shook his head. “I talked to one kid’s mom last night, and she doesn’t appear to be really worried, but…”

“But?”

Andy shrugged. “I’m guessing she is really worried—not so much about what you might do, but what those kids might do.”

“How much trouble are they getting into?”

“Lately… apparently a lot. I just don’t know quite what that means, and nobody was too willing to give me any real answers.”

“They better provide some answers,” Timber stated, thinking it over. “If those kids are a really bad crop, you know there can’t be any give.”

“I know,” Andy admitted, “but I need a bit of give. I really don’t want to tell her how bad of a deal they’ve got.”

“The only bad deal they’ll get is a bad deal that they started and earned.”

Andy sighed. “I understand where you’re coming from, and a lot of days I would have been right there with you. All I’m asking is that you just try not to kill him.”

Timber raised his eyebrow at that. “I wasn’t planning on killing anybody.” At that, Andy sighed again, this time with visible relief. Then Timber continued. “However, if somebody shoots at me, I won’t miss.”

Andy winced. “I get it, and I’m sorry. I’m just really hoping it doesn’t come to that.”

“So am I,” Timber said. “The last thing I need is to get tied up in that deal. If the parents won’t rein them in, they are just asking for me and the sheriff and the ranger to step in. Somebody needs to rein them in.”

“Yeah, well, the other kids are just followers, but this one? Well, reining him in…”

Timber nodded. “I hear you. It’s not easy, and it’s apparently not something that anybody seems to be doing right now.”

“No, and that’s the biggest challenge. This kid seems to have it in his head that he can do what he wants and that nobody can stop him.”

“He’s wrong,” Timber declared, “and he or anybody else who comes up against me here on my own damn property will have the same issue.”

Andy nodded. “You might find that his mother will come out here to see you.”

“She better not,” he replied sharply. “You know I don’t like company.”

“I know, and I did tell her that, but she seems to think that she could appeal to your senses.”

“What she needs to do is get control of her son and leave my senses out of it,” he snapped. “Then the stupid kid won’t be an issue for anybody. I don’t really want to deal with this issue.”

“I told her that, but she’s, um ,… what can I say? She’s a mom.”

“Not for long if she doesn’t get that one under control.”

“And she can’t get him under control,” Andy shared, “so I don’t know what to say.”

“It’s very simple,” Timber explained, “as long as he stays away from me and my property, he’s fine. The minute he comes back here again, he’s not.”

Andy nodded, headed back to his truck, and lifted a hand to wave goodbye. “Just keep it in mind.”

“Nothing to keep in my mind, Andy,” Timber stated. “I’m not pushing to get into a fight, but, if the fight comes to me, I won’t back down.”

Andy turned to him. “I know, son. I know. I can hear it in your tone and can see it in your body language. I know you’ll protect your own.”

“And you haven’t allowed them to come hunting here in a very long time?” Timber asked.

“Never,” Andy declared, rubbing the back of his head.

“The one kid’s father used to come back in the day.

When they were short on food, I let the father come in and cull a little bit of what needed culling,” he shared, “but it was very judiciously done. I didn’t realize the kid was coming back to help himself, but if he’s running around with the ringleader, it makes more sense. ”

“And apparently has been doing it for quite a while,” Timber pointed out.

Andy stared at him and shook his head. “Yeah, that’s what happens when you help people.”

“Exactly,” Timber muttered. “Keep that in mind.”

Andy laughed. “I’m good,” he said, still chuckling. “I can live with it, but I need you to go a little easy, if they come back.”

“I’ll be as easy as I can be and not harder than I need to be, but I will not walk away from it.”

“No, of course not. Anyway…”

As Andy slowly walked back to his truck, belatedly Timber called after him, “Do you want a coffee or something?”

He stopped, then looked back at him and shook his head. “Another time maybe. This old body of mine is starting to feel its age.”

Timber just nodded and didn’t respond.

After a moment, Andy added, “I do need to sort out what I’m doing in terms of the rest of the ranch.” At that, Timber stiffened, and Andy nodded. “What are your plans for this place anyway?” Andy asked. He looked up at the cabin and pointed. “You’ve already done a crap load of work around here.”

“I don’t know that I’ve done much of anything yet,” Timber acknowledged, as he walked closer. “It’s a whole lot less than I want to get done, but I’ll get there.”

“And you’re still stuck on the refuge thing?”

“I’m not stuck on it,” Timber clarified, “but that was always the plan, a place for those in need of refuge to come and find it.”

“Two-legged and four?”

Timber nodded. “Yes, two-legged and four, depending on the issue.”

“Right, because of course…”

When he didn’t say anything more, Timber nodded. “Because of course…”

Andy laughed. “It’s not that I doubt you’ve got things happening here that’ll be good for everybody,” he began. “I just hope the word doesn’t get out that you’re offering a human refuge. I’m afraid that would bring in the wrong kind of people.”

“Maybe,” Timber agreed, “but unfortunately I’ve seen an awful lot of the wrong kind of people be the right kind of people, but society had labeled them the wrong kind.”

Andy thought about it and shrugged. “I guess that, once you’ve got people who are in trouble, there’s no such a thing as the wrong kind.”

“That’ll be one of the questions to handle on an individual basis,” Timber noted. “Still, I’m not looking for trouble.”

“I know. I know.” Andy held up his hands. “You’re not looking for it, but if it comes your way…”

Timber nodded. “If it comes my way, you can bet that I’ll be ready with a quick response.”